1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical interface connections. More particularly, it relates to media connectors configured to couple with a physical/electrical media plug.
2. Related Technology
The field of data transmissions over phone lines or network cables is a rapidly expanding field. Users of electrical apparatus such as laptops, notebooks, palmtops, and PDAs are finding such practice to be of great value.
For example, there are numerous public and private networks and databases which store data or programs. Absent the ability to connect with such systems over the telephone lines, a user is relegated to relying upon the exchange of discs or tapes in order to receive data suitable for use with their computer.
Similarly, companies performing tasks that are integrated are aided by local area networks (xe2x80x9cLANsxe2x80x9d) which permit personnel to exchange electronically retrievable data. The ability to freely transfer data and information from one computer to another computer over a telephone line or cable can dramatically increase productivity and reduce overall production time.
Furthermore, the increased use of palmtops and PDAs has increased the need to transfer data between such apparatus and other computers, particularly personal computers. This enables a user to quickly transfer information, such as telephone or address lists, without having to make manual entries.
The interface between a computer and a cable or telephone line is typically accomplished through a physical/electrical media connector. One conventional type of media connector is the RJ-type connector. RJ-type connectors are used by almost all telephone companies throughout the world for many applications, the most important of which is interconnection of telephones with telephone lines. For this reason, stringent standardization of connectors has been established to enable compatibility and interactivity. Due to the simplicity of the connection and the established standards, RJ-type connectors are used extensively in the computer industries and in other industries where communication over telephone lines or other types of cables is required.
RJ-type connectors include a plug or contact block and a receptacle or socket. The plug comprises a small block shaped body coupled with a cable, such as a telephone line. Housed within the body are several distinct metal contacts. Each of the metal contacts is attached to a discrete wire within the cable. Thin slots extend from the end of the body to each of the contacts. Mounted on the outside of the body is a flexible retention clip that is used for removably securing the plug within the socket of the electrical apparatus.
The socket is integrally formed on the side of the electrical apparatus and is configured to receive the plug. Disposed within the socket are flexible contact wires. The contact wires are oriented to be received within the corresponding slots of the plug when the plug is placed into the socket. The contact wires within the socket press against corresponding contacts on the plug to complete the electrical connection between the plug and the electrical apparatus.
The interior surface of the socket comprises the latching mechanism that receives the retention clip of the plug so as to mechanically secure the plug within the socket by holding retention notches of the retention clip. To remove the plug, the retention clip is manually flexed towards the body of the plug to release the hold of the latching mechanism on the retention notches, thereby enabling manual removal of the plug from the socket.
Although RJ type connectors are used extensively, they have several shortcomings. Most notably, the achievements in microprocessing have enabled manufactures to dramatically downsize various electrical apparatus. For example, mobile telephones and PDAs now exist that can easily fit in a shirt pocket. Such apparatus, however, are limited from further downsizing by the size of the socket in which the plug is received. That is, to enable an electrical apparatus to house a standard sized socket having a defined thickness, the electrical apparatus must have at least the same thickness.
Besides limiting the size of an electrical apparatus, a socket housed within an electrical apparatus occupies valuable space. Even in larger apparatus it is desirable to optimize the use of space so as to minimize size. When an electrical apparatus does not need to couple with a plug, the space occupied by the coupling socket is wasted.
As electronic communications devices have continued to be downsized, so have peripheral communications devices. A typical communications device is a PCMCIA card.
Standards have been promulgated by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) for PCMCIA cards which are widely accepted. These standards include spatial size restrictions of approximately 55 mm in width, 85 mm in length, and 5 mm in depth. In keeping with these standards, various manufacturers build communications devices that meet these specifications. Electronic apparatus have also been configured with expansion slots for receiving these various communications devices.
Because these communications devices are narrower than the typical RJ-series media plugs used to connect to communications devices, adapters were required. One skilled in the art should recognize a dongle as a typical adapter. However, this caused problems because the dongle had to be stored and could easily be misplaced. A solution to this problem was developed by the innovation of expandable media connectors, as embodied in U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,404, issued to Aldous et al. Extendable media connectors have a profile that is thinner than the media plug being connected to the electrical apparatus and can be slidably retracted into the housing of the communications device. Extendable media connectors can also be directly connected to an electronic apparatus.
One problem encountered by extendible media connectors is the insertion depth of the plug when it couples with the extendable media connector. In particular, the nose of the plug can extend beyond the bottom of the extendable media connector and cause snagging of the plug with other objects such as a bedspread or a sheet. The depth of a PCMCIA standard communications device is limited to 5 mm. However, the depth of a media connector such as the RJ-type plug is approximately 8-12 mm.
The insertion depth of the media plug can also be problematic when the media plug is connected to a first communications device that is stacked on top of a second communications device, such as within a double bay expansion slot of an electrical apparatus.
It is common in the industry to stack communications devices within an electrical apparatus to maximize the capacity of the electrical apparatus by incorporating various hardware and communications devices. This is particularly true for portable computers. It is also typical for a portable computer to be configured with a double bay expansion slot for receiving stacked communications devices. By way of example, and not limitation, an exemplary stacking configuration of communications devices within a typical double bay expansion slot might include a PCMCIA card stacked above a network interface card.
Various communications devices are suitably configured for being stacked in a double bay expansion slot, including, but not limited to PCMCIA cards, network interface cards, wireless cellular cards, sound cards, memory cards, and peripheral device controller cards. Although stacking communications devices does increase the capacity of the electrical apparatus to incorporate various communications devices, it can also prevent simultaneous use of the communications devices, in a sense, defeating the purpose of stacking the communications devices.
Use of a second communications device in a stacked configuration cannot be used when the coupling of a media connector with a first communications device obstructs the coupling of another media plug with the second communications device. For example, the nose of an RJ-series media plug coupled with an extendible media connector of a typical PCMCIA card may extend into the space required by a second communications device for coupling with a suitable media plug. Even if a thinner media plug adapter, such as a dongle is used, the extension of the RJ-series media plug may extend too far down into the space required by the dongle for connecting into the second communications device. Accordingly, if communications devices are stacked, it may only be possible to use one of the communications devices at any given time.
The flexible contact wires of an extendible media connector can also potentially cause problems if they are configured to extend into the socket that receives the body of the media plug. This configuration is recognized in the industry as one method for positioning the contact wires to be received within corresponding slots of the plug when the plug is inserted into the socket. However, with this configuration there is a risk that when the plug is inserted into the socket that the contact wires will be forced out of a protective profile of the extended media connector, increasing the possibility of causing an electrical short of the contact wires.
Some media connectors have been configured to receive both RJ-11 series plugs and RJ-45 series plugs. An RJ-11 series plug has six metal contacts whereas the RJ-45 series plug has 8 metal contacts. Accordingly, the media connectors configured for receiving both types of plugs are equipped with 8 contact wires, to accommodate either plug. However, when an RJ-11 series plug is coupled with a media connector having 8 contact wires, only six contact wires are engaged within the slots of the plug. The remaining contact wires, if they extend into the socket, are susceptible to being damaged when they encounter high profile comers of the media plug. They are also more susceptible to being displaced beyond the protective profile of the extendable media connector by the high profile edges of the plug.
Another problem encountered by extendable media connectors that accommodate both RJ-11 series plugs and RJ-45 series plugs is assuring the stability of the connection between the plug and the extendable media connector. In particular, the width of the aperture configured for holding the plug must be at least as wide as the RJ-45 series body, which is slightly wider than the body of an RJ-11 series plug. This can create a loose connection when an RJ-11 series plug is inserted into the socket of such a media connector because the additional wiggle room between the sides of the plug and the socket.
It would, therefore, be desirable to have an extendable media connector that can securely couple with both RJ-11 and RJ-45 series plugs. It would also be desirable to accomplish such a coupling while minimizing the protrusion of the plugs through the bottom of the extendable media connector. It is further desirable to achieve this result without damaging the contact wires of the extendable media connector.
An extendable media connector is provided for coupling with RJ-series media plugs. The extendable media connector can be directly attached to an electrical apparatus, such as, a laptop, notebook, palmtop, PDA, pager, modem, and telephone. The extendable media connector can also be indirectly attached to an electrical apparatus via a communications device, such as, a PCMCIA card, network interface card, wireless cellular card, sound card, memory card, and other peripheral device controller cards. Non-conventional electrical apparatus can include televisions, stereo equipment, automobiles, and appliances.
The RJ-series plug comprises a small block shaped body coupled with a cable, such as a telephone line. The body of the plug has a nose extending away from the body in the opposite direction of the cable. A flexible retention clip is mounted to the nose of the body, and protrudes away from the plug body at a slight angle, terminating at a narrow free end. The retention clip has retention notches that define the edges where the retention clip significantly narrows. Housed within the plug body are distinct contact pins. Each of the contact pins are attached to discrete wires within the cable. Thin slots extend from the end of the plug body to each of the contact pins.
The extendable media connector comprises a frame and a rocker arm. The frame has an aperture formed therein. The aperture is configured to receive an RJ-series media plug. A plurality of contact wires are housed within protective slots of the frame and are exposed to the aperture. During use, the plug is inserted into the aperture so that the contact wires of the extendable media connector are biased against the contact pins of the plug, thereby effecting electrical communication between the media plug and the communications device through the extendable media connector. This direct connection obviates the need for conventional adapters to facilitate connection of the media plug to the electronic apparatus.
One of the unique benefits of using the extendable media connector is that the extendable media connector can be constructed having a thickness significantly smaller than the thickness of an RJ-series media plug. For example, by forming the aperture completely through the frame of the extendable media connector, the opposing ends of the media plug inserted therein can freely project from opposing sides of the aperture block. However, it is desirable to limit projection of the media plug out of the bottom side of the extendable media connector to avoid particular problems that will be addressed herein. These problems include obstructing the successful connection of a media plug with the same electronic apparatus or another communications device and snagging on other materials such as bedspreads. To overcome these problems, the frame comprises insertion stopping means comprising tabs that project away from the frame and into the aperture. These tabs control the insertion depth of the media plug by catching recessed surfaces of the media plug, preventing the plug from passing completely through the aperture.
The extendable media connector can be designed in a variety of alternative embodiments, comprising alternative insertion stopping means. For example, the extendable media connector may alternatively comprise stirrups, diaphragms, faceplates, or other retention structures that can be attached to the aperture block to prevent the passage of the media plug through the bottom of the extendable media connector.
The frame of the extendable media connector need only be thick enough to structurally support the media plug and securely hold the contact wires. Accordingly, use of the extendable media connector enables the use of peripheral communications devices and the manufacture of thinner electrical apparatus. The frame of the extendable media connector can also be retracted so as to be out of the way. A mechanism slidably connects the frame of extendable media connector to the communications device or electronic apparatus. This mechanism enables the extendable media connector to be selectively retracted into the casing of the communications device or electronic apparatus, or selectively extended out of the casing.
A rocker arm is pivotally mounted on the frame of the extendable media connector for mechanically latching onto an RJ-series media plug. The rocker arm has a foot that is configured for receiving a contact force from the plug. When the plug is inserted into the aperture, the nose of the plug is pushed against a base of the rocker arm, causing the rocker arm to rotate. The rocker arm also has two alignment arms that slidably engage the sides of the retention clip of the plug, holding the plug in a predetermined alignment. This is important to assure a tight connection between the plug and the extendable media connector, particularly when the aperture of the extendable media connector is wider than the body of the plug. Because the width of the retention clip for both the RJ-11 and RJ-45 series plugs is the same, an equally aligned and tight connection is assured for both types of plugs, regardless of the width of the aperture of the extendable media connector.
The alignment arms of the plug have rotation stop surfaces for stopping the rotation of the rocker arm when they come in contact with the body of the plug. The rocker arm is also configured for mechanically securing the media plug within the aperture of the extendable media connection. In one embodiment, the rocker arm comprises locking ears that are located on the ends of the alignment arms. The locking ears mechanically latch onto retention notches of the retention clip, securely holding the plug within the aperture. To remove the plug from the aperture, the retention clip is manually flexed towards the body of the plug. This action releases the hold of the locking ears on the retention notches, thereby enabling manual removal of the plug from the extendable media connector. The rocker arm can also be designed in a variety of alternative embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention.